What happens
Captain Fred Derry, a former bombardier, returns home after the Second World War to a town where nothing feels quite the same. He meets fellow veterans Al Stevenson and Homer Parish, the Navy man who lost his hands and now uses steel hooks. Fred struggles to find work and settle back with his wife Marie, while a growing attraction to Al's daughter Peggy complicates his life. Screen Directors Playhouse presented this radio adaptation of The Best Years of Our Lives on April 17, 1949, with Dana Andrews as Fred and Janet Waldo as Peggy, introduced by director William Wyler.
A hometown in America shortly after the end of the Second World War
Characters: Fred Derry, Al Stevenson, Homer Parish, Peggy Stevenson, Marie, Mr. Thorpe, Mr. Bullard, Wilma
Listen for: Fred's first meeting with Al and Homer on the flight home, and his nightmare about the burning bomber
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.